This morning dawned cold and dreary. It was the sort of morning where all I really wanted to do was stay in bed. But I knew it was a workday. So I brewed some coffee and plopped myself in front of the computer to ingest the steamy brew.
There was nothing interesting in the news. So I just clicked my way around the Internet. People post some really whacky stuff.
I mean, I came across some stupid stuff. But then? Then I stumbled upon a treasure.
Said treasure being Matty B who has got to be the baddest 8-year-old ever.
“Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning GOOD.” (Do you know who said that?)
He raps. It’s awesome. He covers popular rap tunes using his own alternate lyrics.
It sort of takes you back to the day when rap lyrics were fun. When “dirty” lyrics included things like “…and Rip Van Winkle fell the Hell asleep.”
Painful, right?
Nowhere near as bad as that gangsta rap stuff.
Anyway…
Matty’s raps are cool. In case you can’t understand him, here’s the opening lines of this cool little video.
People rappin ’bout their cars. And they money.
Why would you rap about your stuff?
Now that’s just funny.
Course their treasures ain’t like mines.
My stuff’s sick.
So I had to drop a Matty B remix.
Now, some of you won’t enjoy this. But that’s okay. Cause I know some of you will.
I just LOVE the chauffeur.
Check it out, yo!
If you think he’s awesome and need to see more, he’s got his own YouTube channel. Some of the other ones I like include…
A Bloggers Centerline Day, or ABCD, will take place on Sunday 1st May 2011.
The plan is to inspire as many bloggers as possible to go outside and take a photograph of themselves on this day, wherever they are in the world. The photo can be creative, arty, contain more than one person, be in any type of location and can contain anything else you like. It must however contain the centerline of a road and at least part of you, the blogger.
There are 5 rules….
Rule 1 – the picture must be taken on 1st May 2011.
Rule 2 – the picture must be of yourself, and you must be a person that publishes a blog. You can include whatever else you like in the picture, including other people if you wish.
Rule 3 – the picture must include the centerline of a road.
Rule 4 – you should publish the picture on your blog on 1st May 2011, along with a few words about the picture and why you chose that location or pose.
Rule 5 – when you have posted the picture on your own blog, put a comment on http://garysusatour.blogspot.com/2011/04/abcd-will-you-take-part.html and include in that comment the address of your own blog post containing your own picture.
Gary France will then pick his favourite photos and publish these as being the winners. There will be a prize of $100 awarded to the overall single winner, as chosen by Gary.
In order to get this event known as widely as possible, please copy and paste this posting onto your own blog, including the title. Please do that today!
As a reminder to yourself to take the photo and post it, put an entry into your diary for 1st May 2011.
Let’s see if we can get as any people to join in as possible.
I used to think it would be cool to have a job that requires travel. Not travel every now and then like I do, but travel a few times a month.
It always looked sort of glamorous to me, seeing the well-traveled professional people scurrying through the airport with their smart little wheeled bag. Notice I said BAG singular. Seasoned professionals never drag more than one bag along.
They always looked so on-the-ball. So focused.
Things are rarely as they appear. That’s one of those lessons you learn as you make your way through life.
I didn’t travel far very often when I was younger. I think I was sixteen before I even flew anywhere.
One of my girlfriends moved from Baltimore to a city near Seattle, Washington. She’d fly back occasionally for visits. I accompanied her and her grandfather to the airport a couple of times when she left to fly back. I remember watching the folks working on the tarmac — baggage handlers, plane pushers, guys with flashlights waving planes in, etc. — and thinking those would be great jobs. I never considered the fact that they have to be outside in all kinds of weather. And the noise. Yikes.
My family didn’t have money for fancy vacations when I was growing up, but we did a lot of camping. Not roughing-it camping in the wilderness with tents and stuff. Camping in a travel trailer, usually surrounded by family. Which was cool. We got to spend time with and know some of our family members way more than others. We usually went to Pennsylvania (with Dad’s family) or West Virginia (with Mom’s family). Occasionally we went to different places, like Cherrystone, Virginia. Once, when I was nine, we even went and camped at Walt Disney World.
It make not have been exotic travel, but it was fun. I have lots of fond camping memories from my childhood. Something else I remember are the many people around us (not just one or two) who thought we traveled A LOT. Many of these people had never been out of the state of Maryland. Some had barely left the city of Baltimore.
Can you imagine? Mobility is definitely something we take for granted. I know I do. I mean, if I want to go somewhere, I go.
Speaking of going… Hubby and I go to the WV place most weekends. Not every weekend, but often. Especially if we’ve got something going on (like the kitchen remodel thing). Our three dogs LOVE the WV place. They love being able to run around and play and chase critters. K especially loves the mice.
One would think word would spread through the mouse community that a killer was afoot. I’ve lost count of how many rodents she and her faithful sidekick, Belle, have killed.
Mice in the Block Pile
It’s not just mice. It’s all rodents. Squirrels, voles, and moles are fair game, too.
Something is Under There
There’s something living under this log at the end of our driveway. Even Meg stops to check periodically. But these two? They stop to check every single time.
Tree Cavity Search
I thought for sure K was going to get her head stuck in that tree cavity. She didn’t, fortunately. They didn’t find anything in there either.
Rodent Alert
This is a pretty common sight. K is obsessed. Belle is a follower. Until K came along, she never acted all that interested in rodents. Except for that big groundhog. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
You can’t understand the degree of K’s obsession until you see and hear her in action. She’s our vocal dog, remember. This video is the perfect example of the hunters in action. You can thank K for the soundtrack.
Doesn’t she sound pathetic?
Imagine what K would do if she saw this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C48BTtAVsK0
Yes, it’s a bit stupid, but it’s one of my favorite commercials.
Are any of your dogs or cats this obsessed with chasing critters?
For the past ten years, there’s been a World of Pets Expo held at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Maryland. It’s like a big pet convention with all sorts of pet products, seminars, information booths, and special events. I went in 2010 for the first time to help man the American Brittany Rescue booth. This year, I went just for fun.
It was fun, too. The coolest part was getting to see so many different kinds of dogs. Plus, I got to meet Bill and Star of Greatest American Dog (CBS) fame. More on that later. Maybe.
Shooting Hoops
Because I’m big on planning ahead for stuff like that, I checked the schedule of events beforehand. My interest was definitely piqued by this entry: “Debbie Ducommun, The Rat Lady: Teaching Your Rats Tricks and Dressing Them in Costumes.”
Rats in costumes? Oh. My. God.
At that moment, I knew. That was something I HAD to see. I mean, it had to be ridiculous, right? I went fully prepared with various lenses to shoot lots of rat pics and capture some images of this crazy woman and her costumed rats.
I mean, I say again… rats in costumes?
What sort of person dresses a rat? I get why someone might like to keep rats as pets. Sort of. But dressing them?
I had all sorts of plans brewing for a big ole blog post making fun of this person. Until I was overcome by a fleeting moment of maturity, that is.
Just because I don’t like rats, don’t have rats as pets (my dogs would eat them!), don’t think I’d be interested in dressing a rat if I did have one, etc., doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with any of it. Right? It’s just different.
Besides, this lady was actually pretty cool.
The Rat Lady
Her seminar was held toward the end of the day. I was dog-tired by then (no pun intended), but stood transfixed, listening as Debbie talked about about her history, background, affinity for rats, etc. She was quite serious. By “serious” I mean she is passionate about her rats. She knows her stuff.
The whole time she spoke, I kept watching the lid on that little basket of hers. Every now and then there’d be movement. It got to the point where I was so focused on the basket that I missed a lot of what she said. I was tired, remember.
Letting the Rat Out of the Basket
Finally, she let not one, but two, rats out of the basket. Not just any rats, hairless rats!
I never knew there was such a thing.
Hairless Rat
I think it sort of looks like an armadillo. Not the most attractive creature, but cute in it’s own sort of way.
At the Starting Bucket
These are fairly young rats. But she has managed to teach them a few tricks. One which involved a sort of tightrope walk between buckets.
Incentivization
She used treats to reward their positive behaviors.
And if they didn’t perform? It was back in the basket for them!
"Get back in the basket, you rat!"
I’m kidding about the basket as punishment thing.
It was neat seeing the little guys walk from one bucket to the next.
Check out that grip!
She also made the little buggers hop from one bucket to the next.
Jump!
I think they preferred the tightrope thing. But what do I know?
What a mug.
It really was quite interesting. However, I was very tired. After about 15 minutes of rat tricks, I was completely ready to call it a day.
So I missed the costumes.
I know, I know. Sorry.
The Rat Lady (that’s really what she calls herself) has a web site, which you can get to by clicking the fan club image below.
Click here to visit The Rat Lady's web site.
And you absolutely should not miss her MEMORIAL PAGE, where she features a wide variety of pictures showing some of her rats who have passed on. (Seymour is the cutest rat ever!)
Having three dogs really is like having three kids. Especially when it comes to sharing stuff like Mama, beds, toys, etc.
There’s one bed in particular that Meg really loves. The other two like it, too, but Meg LOVES it. Sometimes I think the other two just want to use it so Meg, aka the grumpy old lady, can’t have it.
Seeing the goofy positions they all end up in periodically cracks me up. That’s one of the reasons I always have a camera in my office, which is where the dog bed of choice (DBOC) is located.
Hopefully, you’ll find this equally entertaining.
If you don’t have time for the whole thing, fast forward to the 2:00 mark to see the goofy young ones do something that is really quite unique.
There’s music, but whether it’ll play for you remains to be seen. You may need to click on the video to watch it on the YouTube site.
